Clean eating shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying holiday parties, baking festive treats, and even enjoying cookies and other delicious treats. These oatmeal raisin cookies definitely don’t taste like your typical “healthy” cookie recipe, they have all the rich flavor and chewy goodness of of any desert your grandmother could whip up. The good news is, these cookies are basically just baked oatmeal with a few nutritious add ins. So I guess dessert for breakfast isn’t such a bad thing after all! 
The first ingredient is 1 cup of oats. Not only can you get a huge container of oats at the grocery store for super cheap (the total cost is about 10 cents per serving), but they can provide a great start to your morning, or any time of day for that matter. Oats provide 9 grams of soluble fiber per cup which research has shown reduces your “bad” LDL cholesterol significantly. This fiber will also keep you feeling full for hours! Just make sure to stay away from the oatmeal packets loaded with added sugar and flavoring.
Next you will need 3/4 of a cup of whole wheat flour. Unlike bleached white flour, whole wheat products include the entire wheat germ in its unrefined form. The benefits of this are numerous and provided only by whole wheat flour. A more efficient metabolism, lower risk of type 2 diabetes, less chance of heart failure or disease, and lower blood pressure are all results of a steady diet of whole wheat products.
To sweeten these cookies you can either use ½ cup of agave or honey. I used honey because it was what had in my pantry, but both sweeteners are all natural and unrefined. Honey and agave can replace sugar in any recipe and serve as a more plant-based sweetener.
In addition, you will need 1 ½ tsp baking powder, 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp salt, 2 tbsp melted coconut oil (or butter), 1 large egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and ¼ cup raisins. Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the coconut oil or butter, egg, vanilla, and honey in another. Once mixed add the second mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add in the raisins and chill for 30 minutes so that the dough is easier to handle.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Form cookies from the dough and bake for 11-14 minutes. The cookies won’t expand too much so you don’t have to worry about their placement. If you want you can flatten the cookies with a fork to make them look more like real oatmeal cookies!
Ingredients
1 c instant oats
¾ c whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ c honey
¼ c raisins
DIrections
Whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the honey and add in the flour mixture. When it is completely mixed, fold in the raisins and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Form cookies from the dough and flatten if desired. Bake at 325°F for 11-14 minutes, allow to cool, and enjoy!
Cate's Clean Eats 